In recent years, unfortunately, the general population has fallen victim to terrorist attacks on many fronts. From the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, to the train bombing in Madrid, Spain, the general public both within and outside the United States has increasingly been the target of unprovoked assaults on their lives causing a general feeling of lack of safety in public places among the populace. In several instances, such as the train bombing in Madrid and other incidents in the mid-East and elsewhere, bombs have been triggered by ringing a mobile terminal. Specifically, investigators have determined in many of these incidents that the ringer of a mobile terminal has been wired to a bomb's detonator. This has enabled terrorists to surreptitiously plant a bomb in a public place and after removing themselves from the bomb's location, remotely detonating it by placing a call to that mobile terminal. When the mobile terminal is called, activation of the ringer circuitry triggers the bomb's detonator causing the bomb to explode resulting in widespread destruction of lives, property, and ensuing mayhem.
Recently, in fear of possible attacks using mobile terminal triggered bombs, various law enforcement bodies have taken to illegally jamming the airwaves in the vicinity of suspected target areas. Thus, for example, when security has been threatened in certain airports, officials have used jamming techniques, which prevent use of any mobile terminal for any purpose within the jammed area. Such jamming, unless specifically authorized by the FCC in certain situations, is illegal in the United States. Further, such jamming hampers emergency workers within the jammed area from making necessary calls for help within the jammed area where a bomb is suspected of being located, or even being able to inform their co-workers outside the area of investigation that they have found an item or person of a suspicious nature within the jammed area. Furthermore, jamming of all mobile traffic within an area such as an airport or within any geographical area, can have the side effect of causing panic amongst mobile terminal users within the jammed area who suddenly find that are no longer able to initiate any calls and are able to deduce that that condition is the result of a possibly life-threatening situation in their vicinity.